McGwire at a Loss to Remember Ortiz

SAN FRANCISCO —  Russ Ortiz was so dominant, Mark McGwire couldn’t even remember him as the same pitcher he faced last season.

When asked how Ortiz looked Saturday in the San Francisco Giants’ 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals compared to his obscure rookie season last year, McGwire insisted he had never faced him before.

“That’s bad reporting,” said McGwire, whose 28th home run in first inning was one of two hits off Ortiz. “You guys have stats . . . and you don’t even see that I have zero at-bats against him?”

Actually, McGwire last season was 0 for one against Ortiz, who remembered it well.

“He’s so strong, you can probably jam him and he’ll still hit it out,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz (11-5) settled down after McGwire’s first-inning home run and didn’t allow another hit until Fernando Tatis’ 18th home run in the seventh. He came within one out of his second consecutive complete game, but walked McGwire on four pitches with Tatis due up in the ninth.

Manager Dusty Baker brought in John Johnstone, who struck out Tatis looking to end the game and earn his second save in place of injured closer Robb Nen.

“He gets stronger as the game goes on, and he smells the finish line,” Dusty Baker said of Ortiz. “But when he walked Big Mac on four straight pitches, he hadn’t done that all day long. I figured it was time to go get him.”

Said Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa: “He did all he had to do. He used his fastball on both sides of the plate. And he’s got a breaking ball. It was quality pitching.”

Ortiz has a 1.46 ERA in his last three starts, all victories.

The Giants won for the 10th time in 12 games, extending their lead in the NL West to a season-high 3 1/2 games over Arizona.

“It’s not too early,” Baker said. “We’re past the halfway point and there’s 78 games to go. Of course, I look at them from the first day of the season.”

Jose Jimenez (5-9) took the loss though allowing only three hits and three runs in seven innings. He has given up 14 hits in the last 29 1/3 innings.

“Jimenez pitched a winning type of game,” La Russa said. “Ortiz pitched better.”